[gurps] GURPS: Nightbane?

[rekres]

On Tue, May 12, 2009 at 12:14 PM, Nils Richter <anarion at uni-muenster.de> wrote:
> Bai Shen wrote:
>>
>> 3.  High magical potential.  Is there a way to do this in the rules?  I
>> can
>> state it in fluff, but that seems hokey.
>>
>
> "Potential" is the opposite part of "Taboo traits": they rule (mostly at
> character generation) what later earned CP can be spend upon.
>
> In 3rd Edition, Taboo traits were mostly considered Quirks, worth -1 CP. In
> 4th Edition, they were reduced to Zero-Point-Features (or removed entirely).
> The reasoning was that "not being allowed to buy something" is not that much
> more of a disadvantage than "choosing not to buy something".
>
> The same holds true for Potential. I agree with the newer ruling of treating
> them as Zero-Point-Feature, because Player Characters have High Potential
> per definition.
>
> If the difference between "Normals" and "Potentials" is very important to
> your campaign background, you could treat it as a perk or a 1cp/lvl
> advantage. But maybe it just carries another advantage, like a higher status
> or a reputation for being a "Potential".
>

An example I keep thinking of is the magic system from Robert Jordan's
Wheel of Time series.  Female channelers were able to directly sense
the current ability level of another female channeler and if she
concentrated she could sense that channeler's potential ability.  Many
novices started out with only minimal ability but great potential.
The average person had no potential whatsoever.

The Aes Sedai (female channelers) detected other channelers as easily
as breathing.  Later in the series the Ashaman (male channelers) were
able to do it, but only as a spell effect which had to be focused on
for several minutes.

-- 
Chris J. Whitcomb
"I try to keep an open mind, but my brain keep falling out!"